QUICK EDIT: Government set to hit Congress where it hurts most

The political sabre-rattling by the Congress in Parliament over the targeting of the Gandhis in the National Herald case is expected to become fiercer.

The opposition party is in no mood to give up its protest, and the government is set to hit them where it hurts the most.

Defending the Gandhis is an article of faith for Congress members, who see the Herald case as the handiwork of the BJP’s dirty tricks department, while the ruling party is keen to discredit the opposition party’s leadership.

Defending Sonia and Rahul Gandhi is an article of faith for Congress members

The Congress managers have adopted a new strategy in Parliament saying its protests had no links with the developments in the Herald case and the opposition party was merely flagging the need for action against some BJP leaders who the Grand Old Party has alleged were tainted.

Interestingly, while the Congress managers had put the issue of Lalitgate and Vyapam on the backburner ahead of the Parliament’s winter session, focusing instead on the intolerance issue, they brought back the demand for resignations of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje for helping fugitive Lalit Modi and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the Vyapam scam.

Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul are to appear in the trial court on December 19.

Rahul has directly blamed the PMO for the case and is not expected to let the pressure on the government go.

While finance minister Arun Jaitley has come out with a blog highlighting how the Congress leadership has tied itself in a web, the opposition party has fielded former finance minister P Chidambaram who pointed out if the government was neutral in the matter, what was the need for a minister to comment on a matter which is sub-judice.

Jaitley argued the summons to Sonia and Rahul are given by the court and the government has not taken any action against the Gandhis in the case.

In the days to come the war of words between the government and opposition is set to increase and could impact legislative business. The government has to watch its moves carefully to avoid this.